Hybrid cloud storage has reinvented the way the cloud is used and implemented. Companies can use aspects of the cloud but choose to store data in a private or public cloud, or on their premises. They are opting to choose which data to store on site and what is stored in the cloud based on risk identification, bandwidth, and other factors. A public storage cloud is certainly fine for disaster recovery and backup, depending on the business’ needs.

Software storage by nature separates the data storage aspects from physical storage resources. This has given rise to services based solely on data storage and offerings such as software-defined networking. Administrators often have flexible management options while policy-based management may be automated. The biggest impact, however, is how vendors are evolving their product lines or creating new ones to accommodate the demand for hybrid cloud software storage.